This Is How We Say Goodbye
by DevilishSophistication
Summary: Ellis and Jenner are in love, but Ellis has found a way to start a whole new life, a better life. A story of losing the one you love, oneshot.


The old oak door at the bottom of the stairs to Jenner Fratellis' basement closed unusually quietly behind Ellis March as she stepped into the big room beneath his house. She glanced around, avoiding her band mate's eyes and setting her ancient army-issue bag from her father on the floor next to a red 12-string sitting carefully on it's stand by the wood-paneled wall.

"Hey Ellis." Jenner nodded at her, strumming quietly at his dark acoustic guitar.

She nodded back, unable to find her voice then continued her thorough examination of the worn navy blue polyester carpet. Jenner raised one eyebrow as he watched Ellis. She shuffled her feet in their grey-green high-laced combat boots and fiddled with something in the pocket of her military-style cargo skinnies. She smoothed the front of her black and dark gold My Chemical Romance t-shirt and sighed.

"What's your deal, you look like you're about to tell us you're quitting the band." Garrett McAllen, the band's drummer laughed. Ellis's gaze snapped up to meet his own with wide eyes full of guilt.

"Oh god…" Garrett suddenly realized how right his joke had been.

""What?" Nora Querry, who was a sort of band manager, asked from her place on the big red couch in the back of the room.

"Woah, March, are you serious right now?" Garrett inquired, leaning towards Ellis and peering at her in surprise and disbelief. Ellis gulped and slowly nodded to answer what Garrett had asked, though her eyes were fixed on Jenner. He'd realized what Ellis was going to tell them as soon as Garrett had. Now his arms were crossed on top of his guitar and his forehead rested on top of them with his long brown hair falling over, hiding his face like a silk stage curtain.

"I'm sorry." She finally said. Jenner slowly lifted his head off of his arms, rubbing at his forehead to rid it of the red pressure mark. He stood, crossed the room towards her and carefully set his acoustic on the guitar stand on the other side of the 12-string before shooting daggers at her with his eyes, pushing past her through the door and storming up the stairs.

"Jenner!" She turned, calling after him through the open doorway.

"What's going on?" Nora asked again, always slow to understand.

"I'm leaving the band," Ellis swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat, "And the country."

"What?" Nora screeched, jumping to her feet red-faced and furious.

"The country? Slow down, March. You'd better tell us the whole deal now." Garrett said. He was the opposite of Nora. While she was emotionally unstable with a nasty temper to boot, he was calm, analytic and thoughtful.

"I got a record deal."

"For the band?" Nora asked. Garrett lightly elbowed her to shut her up.

"For me. And… It's in Germany. There's a band there that found me somehow and they want me to come play bass for them and do vocals for some of their songs."

"You're leaving us for a new band in a different country and taking a lower position in said band." Garrett summarized, looking up at the ceiling as he thought it over. "That sounds like a shit deal for you."

"It is not a shit deal." Ellis explained. "I'll have a career there; they're already fairly well-known and rising. I can't pass it up."

"Why not?" A cold, emotionless voice asked from behind her. She whirled around to see Jasper standing behind her with a beer in one hand and a phone in the other. He must have heard everything.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking at the phone.

"Drinking." He replied, "And looking for new talent. I have to find a new bass guitarist and someone for lead vocals and teach them most of our songs before Sunday for the battle of the bands at Ricky's."

"I know the timing is terrible, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be." Jenner replied his voice still flat as a pond on a windless day. "You can't make it anywhere in the music industry without being a cold, heartless bitch. You did what you had to do and left your band mates, no, your family, in the dust.

"Jenner…" Ellis's voice cracked. Why was he being like this? She'd never seen this side of him before.

"Do you have to do this, March?" Garrett drew her attention away from Jenner. "We are your family. You me and Jenner, we been playing together for five years now. That's from sophomore year until now, and we were friends before that. How can you throw that away? Are you sure you want to leave?"

"My mind can't be changed." Ellis told him.

"Alright, well when are you leaving?"

"Um… You're not going to like the answer."

"March, tell us."

"Tomorrow, my flight boards at 7."

"You were right. I don't like that."

Ellis didn't bother to turn around as she heard Jenner's footsteps going back up the stairs. There was a long silence, then a resounding crash as if something fragile had been thrown.

Ellis began shaking with a mix of nervousness, guilt, hurt and the feeling of betraying ones close to you and tears started to fill her eyes. Garrett noticed.

"Nora, can you go see what Jenner 'dropped'?" Garrett requested.

"I really don't think he dropped anything. He probably threw it because he's pissed that Ellis is being such a-" Nora suddenly understood what Garrett meant. "**OH**… Okay, I'll be back in a minute."

"Come sit down right next to me, March." He said as Nora went up the stairs and he plopped down in her spot on the couch. Ellis made her way over to the couch and sat down on the other end, hugging her knees to her chest while she listened to her friend speak.

"I understand that you've got to leave, girl. I can't say I would do it myself, or that anyone else here would. Well… Nora would leave if someone offered her a fuckin' Twinkie for it, but that's just her." Ellis smiled at his joke. "The thing is, you can't expect Jenner to be cool with this. I know how you to feel about each other and everything, and I get that you guys didn't get serious because of the band but even though ya'll ain't together he loves you. That boy up there would take a goddamn bullet for you and you just told him that you're ditching him and moving away in about 17 hours. What is he supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Ellis squeaked. A tear snuck out of her eye and slid down her porcelain cheek. "I hoped… I'd hoped he would come with me."

"You know he can't do that. He's got his sister." Garrett said. Ellis nodded. Of course she hadn't forgotten about Abigail, Jenner's 14 year old sister who he'd been taking care of since their mother died five years ago. He was fiercely protective of her and even "interviewed" every single boy she dated to make sure they wouldn't hurt her.

"When they invited me, they said I could bring one to two people with me. I'd be making more than triple what I do now with my job at the bank, and anyone with me would be taken care of too. They could come, both of them."

"They can't speak German, and they've both got their whole lives here. Jenner won't uproot his baby sister and take her away to a foreign country thousands of miles away just for you."

Ellis finally gave in to her tears and began sobbing so hard that she didn't notice when Garrett left or that Nora never came back, but she did notice when someone else sat down much closer to her and wrapped their strong arms around her thin, shaking body.

"Shhh…" Jenner whispered into her hair as he pulled her closer and she leaned into him.

"I'm s-so, sorry!" Ellis sobbed into his chest. Slowly her sobs lessened until she'd stopped crying altogether and just sat there leaning against him.

"I'll miss you, Ellis." He said. She looked up to see the sincerity in his eyes. He took his thumb and gently wiped the tears from under her eyes and kissed her forehead. "You know I will."

She felt like she should tell him that she would miss him too, but couldn't find the words to say it.

"It's our last night together." She said, bringing her lips to his. They kissed once, but that was it. They'd been much further than that before, but neither of them wanted to remember their last night like that. They stayed up, talking the entire night with their arms around each other. In the morning, he drove her home so she could get her bags and shower. Then he drove her to the airport at five in the morning so she could make her flight.

"Just a moment." He said, getting out of the car and opening the trunk. She sat for a moment and listened to him shuffling through her luggage.

"What are you doing?" She called back.

"Nothing." He replied. She heard the sound of a zipper being closed and suddenly he was standing at her door with her bags. She got out and took them all from him.

"You're on your own now." He said simply, and walked around to get back into his car. Without another word he drove away, leaving her standing on the sidewalk to begin her new life. Later, when she went through security, her carry on bag would set off the metal detector. They would search her bag, and find something inside.

Ellis sat on a chair waiting for her bag to be returned to her when one of the security guards walked up with her bag and an opened envelope.

"There was a coin inside the envelope, but you should read this. It was in your bag." The guard said with a smile as he handed Ellis her things.

"Oh, okay." Ellis said with a confused look. She hadn't put and envelope in her bag… She opened it, took out the paper inside and began to read.

_The first part of this letter is to the TSA worker who finds it. I apologize for setting off the thingy-ma-bobber with my coin trick, but it's very important that the owner of the bag you just searched gets this letter. Could you please give it to her? It's alright if you read it first, I don't think she'll mind._

_ Part two of this letter is to Ellis Helena March. Here goes._

_Dear Ellis,_

_ You're leaving me. In fact, by the time you read this you'll already have done so. I can't understand why you're leaving, I've tried to but I just don't get it. I intend this to be the last time I talk to you, so I suppose it will have to remain a mystery. I don't mean to be cruel by making this our final correspondence; it just seems to be the best thing for us to do. If I'm to move on with my life and if you're to start a whole new one it would be best if we cut all ties. I don't mean forget each other for I could never forget you. I'll always have memories and that will have to be enough._

_ I did mention that I would miss you, did I not? It would be impossible not to miss the biggest smile, bluest eyes, softest hair and most spectacularly gifted mind in the world. I'll miss our long talks, and the times when you said so without saying anything. I'll miss how you would hum, or talk about the most random things just to avoid silence. I'll miss the way you laughed when Abigail told you a joke that wasn't funny. I'll miss the way you looked out for everyone and put others before you. I guess, now I'm just glad that you've finally decided to do something for yourself._

_ Ellis Helena March, you're the definition of true beauty and my first true love. _

_ And this is my final goodbye. I will miss you, but you'll find someone better and you'll be truly happy with them. They'll be able to give you stability, a real relationship, and all the things I never could. _

_ I wish you the best of luck and life._

_ Goodbye, Ellis. _

_Sincerely, Drew "Jenner" Fratellis_

"Goodbye, Drew." Ellis whispered to the paper gripped between her fingers. She took a long shaky breath then sighed. She wiped her eyes dry and stood, dropping the letter into a trash can as she strode towards Gate C53 to start her new life.


End file.
